It was ten years ago that I began my US walk starting from Boston in New England. By the time I reached Middle Atlantic in Pennsylvania, it was Halloween time. Homeowners had really spruced up their properties with all kinds of ghoulish décor. I recall walking by a countryside home where the place was elaborately done up. A man from the UK travelling for business stopped to see the spectacle and remarked, “Boy, here everyone really gets into it,” meaning in Europe the event is rather toned
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Members of the VHP had invited us to Queen’s Park, the Legislative Assembly Building for the Province of Ontario to a Diwali function. At 8 am, a dozen of us devotees from the temple ashram turned up, including myself, along with delegates, ministers of various portfolios with the government. People with those statuses and services spoke briefly about the importance of Diwali, the festival of lights, carrying the theme of goodness over evil. Certificates were given to those who achieved pro
I was told by a number of folks, the ones we met at Radhadesh, Den Haag, and Naalwijk, that we were very lucky in regards to the weather during our trekking in Holland. “You had practically no rain – unusual for this time of year.”
I consider myself blessed on many counts. Our first nine hours were spent at Radhadesh’s castle. The class I delivered was on the topic of renunciation. I told the listeners of how my dad, while I was in the tub and he was shaving in the washroom, out of nowhere
It is a day of rest, perhaps deserved. Yes, we have been going strong over the last eight days at twenty kilometres. A pause is always good. Downtime. A handful of us on the “Walk for Devotion” project are taking it easy in this tiny town, Durbuy, and specifically at beautifully showcased Radhadesh. It is an oasis of a tastefully done tourist trap and includes a Radha Krishna temple, restaurant, bakery, boutique, art museum, a cow shelter, a playground, an extensive walking trail, land to
How does a walking marathoner get his ‘steps’ in when flying distances that don’t allow? Well, here’s how I achieved some numbers after a six-hour flight. The Schipold in Amsterdam where I landed in the late morning, covers about 4,500 football fields, or 27.87 square kilometres, and I traversed a small portion of that. With Air Canada losing my check-in baggage, I was forced to walk from carousel 19 at arrivals to the oversize outlet or odd-size to carousel 16 and back in a triangle again a
Things are back to normal, back in regular gear. Children are back at school, and in general, vacation is over with adults also in full tilt situated at their workplace.
Construction goes on in various locations of the city like most contemporary urban areas of the world. Roads need repair. New edifices need to rise up to accommodate the growing population.
And what about Chinatown? It is always busy, no sign of death there. With such an industrious community, there will always be a
Food bloggers Alfonso and Jessica recently paid an unexpected visit to the Radha Kalachandji Temple in Dallas to explore its history, art, and spiritual significance. They also enjoyed a delicious vegetarian meal at Kalachani’s Palace, the city’s oldest vegetarian eatery.
In a moment of serendipity, the couple met ISKCON devotee Nityananda Chandra Dasa, who gave them a spontaneous tour of the temple, explaining the Deities, Srila Prabhupada’s journey to the West, and the philosophy of Krishna
Our visiting monk from Florida, Brhat Mrdanga, showed me the notes he took from my class involving the theme of shifting gears in life, or altering one’s career and what people often call paradigm shifting. The focus in the class was based on a Canto Nine avatar, Parasurama, who was born a brahmin (priest), but took on the disposition of a ksatriya (warrior). He felt he did the needful due to oppressive force from unruly kings. In other words, he demonstrated how, in certain circumstances,
IT'S IMPORTANT TO RESPECT AND HONOUR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ON CANADA DAY IN THE SPIRIT OF RECONCILIATION.
The drive to the capital city, Ottawa, population 1,000,000, is five hours, and in the early section of this national holiday, Canada’s birthday, was quiet and road friendly. No roads are necessarily friendly for a pedestrian. There’s always some kind of road rage. In general, it is the happiest day of the year for Canucks (an affectionate term for ‘Canadians’). I was able to fit in 8,000 p
Srimal and I were climbing up the stairs by the beach at Lake Erie to return to his vehicle when we met halfway two men who were tourists. They looked like they were from the middle east.
“Good morning! How are you?” I asked. It was they who were curious and who asked where we are from.
“I’m from Canada, and he (Srimala) is from here. How about you?”
They replied spontaneously, “Jordan.”
“That’s nice.” In a subtle way they indicated that the dialogue was over, as brief as it was, a
People in our community aren’t always punctual. The standard joke is, “We follow IST,” translated as Indian Standard Time or ISKCON Standard Time. Seriously, I don’t laugh at it anymore. Shobam is in his twenties, and he joined our walking team which agreed to meet at 8 AM for the start of the trek. When the topic came up about the chronic lateness, I said to Shobam, “Can your generation change that?”
“I’m going to try,” he said.
The Ledges Trails at Cuyahoga National Park is just idea
The soft touches to the day, after a rather bland phase at Newark Airport, was a visit to Shyama Kund’s childhood home in Cleveland. Also, I might add that a great trek with Srimala down a trail made the afternoon what it was – fine and fun. Both Srimala and I were fascinated to hear from Shyama Kund about his work at Nasa in Florida. Who wouldn’t be intrigued with the space mission, the planets, the moon, and Mars, and whatever achievements may have come through, if any? Shyama reminded us
I’m a firm believer that everyone should take a break from the man-made world, even if just for a few minutes every day. For the sake of sanity, the connection is essential. I recall from my visit to Sparta last year, at this time there is a nearby body of water, Lake Sparta. A walk around it is 1.12 kilometres. Notable are the natural elements. No wonder people have made their homes here. Luckily for walkers like me, no homes are built on the lake’s edge, and plentiful gaps of nature bet
Fifty years ago, I was arrested along with two companions for distributing or selling religious books without a permit. It was standard for brahmacharis (monks) to end up so in the early day s of ISKCON in the US. The three of us spent a night behind bars. We went to court. The judge through the charge out thought it ridiculous and we were set free after a colourful night and day in prison in a town in North Carolina.
At the US customs in the Ottawa Airport enroute to New Jersey, I had to
I expressed to Pradeep, my driver, that my preferred route to Ottawa is Highway 7, which is a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway. It is quiet, scenic, and only two lanes. On our way, we came upon Sharbot Lake and parked the car and embarked upon a trail for pedestrians and cyclists called KNP. There, we saw to both sides of the trail, spring growth, predominantly green. Ferns, grasses, and trilliums are all awoken. For sound it was birds-a-plenty including a woodpecker’s drilling.
May
The cherry blossoms in full bloom are an incredible draw for residents of Toronto in High Park. The flow of pedestrians is a thick one. Musicians of numerous kinds set themselves up near the entrance off of Bloor St. exposing their well-appreciated talents. Amongst the music makers are Hare Krishnas. Yes, we posed ourselves near the entrance where two paths converge, and it is under the shelter of some jack pine trees, just the right spot.
What transpired?
Well, people came to join us.
I had mentioned to the group that Ray Charles, the musical genius, sang a song called “Georgia On My Mind.” "He had the right idea about being absorbed in something someone but our approach is to have Krishna on our mind." I even did a short impersonation of Ray. It got a laugh. The whole group of listeners in the Bhagavatam class knew who I was talking about.
The verse of the day was from Canto Six. Vrtrasura, who had been made out to be bad guy, was speaking some divine wisdom to the heave
I delivered a mini Kirtan Standards course to the devotees of Deland. Some helpful hints in the matter of conscious kirtan can’t go wrong in steering chanters in the right direction. I saw the hard copy of Jayadwaita Swami’s book on the subject on the stand for sale. I grabbed it and used the text as a reference for selling the content’s concepts to the attendees. Afterall, the objective is to follow in the footsteps of the previous teachers. It was appreciated.
Speaking of footsteps, I’
I have never seen such a large pool of blood within the confines of our walls at 243 Avenue Road. Our head priest (pujari), Brahma, entered the temple at 3:40 AM, and when he reached the bottom of the stairs, a blood vessel burst at the base of his leg.
Fortunately, our young men of the Bhakti Academy assisted him, cleaned him, and hurried him to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment and advice. Brahma then returned when the Academy head, Visahka, and her husband, Punya, drove him back home.
Thoughts of the wildfire in Los Angeles are reeling in my mind as I walk the dark early hours. My mantras are prayers of concern and help for the many victims. It is a very troubled world.
Meanwhile, the world is quiet here on Kwatta Street going westbound. The occasional car comes by. There is no honking or any agitation from motorists who are viewing the four of us in dhotis on a narrow two-lane in single file. Dogs barking is occasional. Once the sun hints at rising, we see Indian co
